


카푸치노 카페 (Cappuccino Café)

by Mari (chamarileon)



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, Fluff, coffee shop AU, i've never written an idol/oc fic but here i am, tbh idk what this even is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 12:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7315372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chamarileon/pseuds/Mari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were two things Kihyun could tell you about Chae Hyejae before even speaking to her. Her name, and that she had a passion for sweetened cappuccinos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	카푸치노 카페 (Cappuccino Café)

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first OC-related content I've ever posted! I have no clue if it's any good, but I hope you enjoy! Thank you for reading! xx - Mari

Some things in life are an acquired taste. Whether it be a certain song or a specific art piece, there are some things you just have to learn to love. In Hyejae’s case, it was plain coffee. She could handle four sugary cappuccinos at once, but not plain black coffee. There had to be sugar and creamer or she could not drink it. It took twenty-one years of her quiet and simple life to finally taste a plain coffee and accept the fact that it was, indeed, quite lovely.

It began when she was barely twenty. Hyejae would stop by the local coffee shop and ordered her usual cappuccino. All of the baristas knew her order by heart by the second month; a one-shot caramel cappuccino with French vanilla creamer. It was sweet and it was delectable to the female’s taste buds. About seven months into her daily visits, a new barista was hired. His name tag read “Kihyun”. Every workers’ name tag was decorated with teacups and hearts. It seemed fitting for the attractive young male, not that Hyejae would admit that to anyone else.

In fact, Hyejae was quite shy. She kept to herself and spend her time in the café cooped up in the corner, quietly tapping away at the keyboard on her laptop before turning to the notebook on the table to jot down some notes. It was intriguing how the brunette could manage to return to the shop every week day for so long while doing the exact same thing. It seemed so intriguing that that baristas would gather together and speak about it.

“Hey, she’s back,” a male named Hoseok quietly stated, nodding slightly towards the female who had walked in.

A couple more males, Hyungwon and Minhyuk, came rushing over to peer at the subject of the conversation. “Oh, really? Again?”

One of their baristas didn’t do more than glance over though. The gossip just didn’t interest him. Honestly, he was too busy spacing out and washing dishes to really pay attention to what was going on.

“Hey, Kihyun, why aren’t you looking?”

Kihyun looked up from washing a cup and raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Oh, I’m just not. I don’t see the point in talking about her every time she comes in.”

Hyungwon simply shrugged before mumbling, “Suit yourself.”

This went on for another few months before Kihyun became even remotely curious in finding out more about her. He had passed the short female, eyes accidentally grazing over what was written in the notebook and on the screen of the laptop. He stopped short, wanting to say something but unsure what to. Kihyun continued on with his duties, cleaning up some cups left out on the tables and such. After about an hour of pondering on what to say, he finally went over towards her.

“So, you’re a writer?”

Hyejae looked up, slightly startled that someone had spoken to her. “Oh, uhm.. Yeah, I guess. I’m a creative writing major at the university just down the road.”

Kihyun nodded a little, unsure how to respond. “That’s cool.”

That’s all that was said that day.

The next time the two spoke was when the male passed the girl’s usual seat by the window. He found her folded over, face on her arms, asleep. He blinked in surprise. This was certainly new. Sure, she did a lot of stuff while she was there. She had even played games on her laptop instead of writing, but she had never slept.

Kihyun quickly made his way back to the break room and grabbed his cardigan off of the coat rack. He returned to Hyejae’s side and placed the white fabric over her. The pale female stirred slightly, mumbling a small thank you (which startled Kihyun) before drifting back to sleep. He left her alone for a couple hours before coming back to wake her up because they were closing.

From then on, whenever Hyejae slept, Kihyun watched over her. Whenever she was furiously typing, he left her alone. Whenever she seemed out of it, he sat across from her and asked questions about what she was writing and how school was going.

Their conversations were short and sweet. Hyejae slowly opened up further and became more animated when she spoke. After a couple months of their routine she gave a genuine laugh over a dumb knock-knock joke. Kihyun became so interested he couldn't help but glance over at her every few seconds. Occasionally he'd find the female looking back at him, only to move her gaze back to the laptop screen and go back to furiously typing.

The other staff saw it too. Wonho would look between the two before running off to grab Hyungwon. They had all witnessed the friendship grow. However, they would have to wait for the two to go out of their comfort zones to get any further. That beginning comfort zone was insignificantly significant. 

“Uhm, Kihyun?” she asked out of the blue, keeping her eyes focused laser-like on a doodle in her notebook.

“Hmm?” he hummed in reply, eyebrows furrowing at her lack of eye contact. 

She had gotten used to speaking eye-to-eye at this point but suddenly wasn't looking. It was puzzling to the male.

“Do you like coffee?” she asked tentatively.

“I work at a coffee shop."

"Well, yes," she began, "But I mean black coffee. Plain. No sugar, no creamer."

Kihyun hummed in thought for a moment. "Well, yes, occasionally I prefer plain over sugary."

The female nodded in understanding.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well.. I really don't like it. I haven't had it in years now either. I don't understand why people like it," she replied.

Kihyun stood, saying he'll be right back, and went behind the counter. He made quick work of the coffee beans in the grinder, dripping the coffee into a cup after. He soon returned and placed the mug in front of Hyejae. "Try it," he insisted.

She hesitantly took the cup in her hand. The prospect of having to try plain coffee was a bit daunting. It's not as if it was something she had never tried, but the bitter taste always hit her taste buds with fury. She took a small sip, eyebrows furrowing shortly after. Hyejae took another sip, a little more coffee at once, before setting the cup down.

"Good?"

She slowly nodded, confusion lacing her facial features.

"Often times our coffee is as bitter as we're feeling. Maybe when you first tried, you didn't have much going right. Or maybe some bad news flooded your brain. I'm able to stand plain coffee occasionally because my brain recognises the bitter as sweet because of high spirits," Kihyun explained, the corners of his mouth quirking up slightly as he spoke.

That day Hyejae finished the coffee, coming to terms that plain coffee had always been an aquired taste; and as she left, Kihyun couldn't help but let a couple butterflies roam freely in his stomach.


End file.
